Red Room
by BurningEmber100
Summary: Tony has given up trying to find out about Natasha's past by asking her. He builds a machine that transports a persons mind back in time to relive certain events in their past. What will happen when Natasha finds out? What will happen when Tony finally sees the torture she was put through in Red Room? And what will happen to Natasha when she is forced to relive these events again?
1. RR1 Blueprints

Chapter 1

The day started like any other in Stark Tower. The Avengers were getting ready to start the day and as always, Tony was bugging Natasha about her past.

"C'mon red, you know I could decode those case files in five minutes flat right? So why don't you just tell me? What's so bad about your past that you don't want anyone to know about?" Tony kept pestering her while the other Avengers nervously finished their breakfast. Clint shuffled uncomfortably.

"Leave her alone Tony. Her past is her past, and we are in the present now. Anything that happened then is over, and she's with us now. I trust her completely. So leave her alone before you piss her off." Natasha smiled sweetly at Clint, who let out a breath of relief. _Crisis averted,_ he thought. Every time Tony brings this subject up, he threatens her with cracking her case file, which he has never done yet. Whether it is out of fear or respect, he didn't know. But Natasha always got her revenge on him. She hated talking about anything from her past but Tony wouldn't give up till he knew.

Natasha stood up and walked around Thor and Bruce, to the other side of the tabled and leaned over to Tony's ear. Everyone in the room heard him gulp in fear. He knew she always got revenge on him, yet he kept pushing her. _Crisis not averted, _Clint thought.

"Tony," she said, "what have I told you about asking me that hmmm?"

"To not ask you that?" he answered fearfully.

She smiled. "Correct. Now, could you hand me the sugar?"

Knowing that he was about to be punished, he solemnly reached for the sugar to hand to her. He closed his eyes and waited. But nothing happened. She walked back over to her seat on the other side of the table and poured some sugar into her coffee.

"Thank you Tony," she said. She finished her coffee and then left the room.

Thor was left beaming. "That went splendidly! She didn't do anything to you Man of Iron! Maybe she has forgiven you?" They were ecstatic with how the encounter went. Every morning, Tony asked the same questions, and he usually got yelled at. He got off scott free today.

Tony smiled and then took a bite of his eggs. The others watched as his face suddenly fell.

"Who made these eggs." He asked.

Bruce answered with "Natasha did, why?"

"WATERRRRRRR!" Tony yelled as he ran to the sink. He turned the nozzle on and nothing came out. He then ran to the fridge and gulped down an entire container of orange juice.

"Tony! What's wrong?" Bruce asked in concern.

After catching his breath, Tony answered with "The eggs, she put hot sauce in my eggs. She knew I was going to ask her so she did it before I even came down stairs! Then she did something to the goddamn sink!"

Everyone was laughing at him and Thor almost broke the table in his glee.

"That was the best one yet!" Clint said as he was still laughing.

"Don't you guys get it?" Tony said angrily. "Everyone in this tower knows everything about each other, everyone but Natasha! It's not fair. How do we even know we can trust her? She could be spying on us for all we know!"

Clint stood up angrily. "What the hell Tony! She has saved your ass countless times and this is how you repay her?"

"Why won't she talk about her past with us then? What is she hiding!?"

"Perhaps she isn't hiding anything." Tony glared at Thor's remark.

"Then what, she's just playing with us?" he said angrily.

"No, perhaps she won't tell us is because it's too painful to talk about." Everyone stared at Thor. No one had ever thought of that and it took a god to bring it to light. Tony looked stunned for a moment. His face then turned back to anger and he stormed out of the kitchen.

Tony turned the corner and stopped suddenly when he saw Natasha standing there. She had heard everything.

"Natasha I-"

"Forget it Tony." She turned and walked off, leaving Tony feeling bad about what he had said about her.

He then took the elevator down to his lab to sulk.

"I'm so stupid! Why did I have to go and open my big mouth? Of course I trust her. But what has her staying so quiet. I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

Tony powered up his computer and pulled up her case file. He got busy with taking down the firewalls and cracking the codes that kept is so secret. After a while, he was one code away to finally getting some answers. Before he put in the code though, he stopped. He couldn't do it. He didn't know why but he couldn't bring himself to read her file. He clicked delete and sat back.

He was lost in his thoughts until a paper caught his eye. He pulled it out of his desk and smiled. It was his blueprints to his time machine. Well, not really a time machine but a machine that would theoretically bring a person or persons mind back in time. He had started this before Loki and his alien invaders appeared.

Tony grabbed the blueprints and walked to the back of his lab where he got to work on building the machine. He would go back and find Natasha. He would finally understand her and why she was the way she was.

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_**Sorry it's so short! I just got the idea and had to get it down. I hope you like the concept! Let me know what you think and what you would like to see as the story progresses! Red Room here we come!**_


	2. RR2 Fire and Fear

_**Thank you guys so much for the reviews! Guest, La Madone, Dyor, and storylover001, you guys rock! I've always wanted a fanfic like this so hey, why not write it myself! Thanks for the motivation!**_

Chapter 2

_Tony grabbed the blueprints and walked to the back of his lab where he got to work on building the machine. He would go back and find Natasha. He would finally understand her and why she was the way she was._

The next day, Tony was not at breakfast. Everyone wondered where he was since he never missed a chance to stuff his face.

"Tash? You didn't do anything to Tony did you?" Clint was genuinely worried that she did something to him in another bout of revenge,

"Relax, I haven't seen him since yesterday morning. Besides, it peaceful without him here."

"May I have his breakfast then my friends?" Thor was taking advantage of the extra food since Tony was MIA. He reached over to grab the plate before he got an answer and his hand was smacked away.

"No you don't big man," Bruce said. "I'll bring it down to him. He's probably in his lab." Bruce got the extra plate and journeyed to Tony's lab. When he reached the door, he found it locked. The door was never locked. He then knocked and waited for an answer.

"Who is- ow! Who is it?" Bruce heard a crash as if something had fallen.

"It's Bruce, Tony. Open up."

"I can't do that right now, I'm busy. No one can bother me until I get this project finished. No one, not even Fury himself can pull me away from this. Go away."

Bruce heard another crash followed by swear words from Tony before he said. "I have your breakfast Tony, what can possibly be so import-" The door suddenly opened with a sweaty Tony standing in front of him.

"Food!" He grabbed the plate and then slammed the door shut. But not before Bruce saw a strange machine in the works.

_When he starts a project, he doesn't stop for anything…except for food, _Bruce thought.

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The weeks passed and the team saw very little of Tony. Steve was still on a mission and Tony, Clint, and Natasha were working together on a case. The only time Tony would make an appearance was when they got a lead and had to go out in the field. Today, Fury had sent Natasha, Tony and Clint to a place in downtown where suspected arms dealers were preparing for a big sale. The case could be handled by regular officers but the word was that they had a device that could make a person immobile while chaos ensued around them, making it easy for the dealers to escape. If this weapon got into the wrong hands, there would be no telling what would happen.

The gang arrived at a warehouse and immediately spread out. Tony in his Iron Man suit made his way to the roof while Natasha and Clint snuck in through a window.

Clint immediately went left and Natasha went right when they got into the warehouse. They could almost read each other's minds when they worked together. They were close and Clint was the only one who knew some of Natasha's past. The little he know did not affect the way he saw her as a partner.

"Tony," Natasha said as she communicated through her earpiece. "There's no one here yet. How's it look from your position?" Natasha immediately let her senses roam as she tried to locate any other living being in the room. There was no one on the floor.

"Incoming. Three trucks just made their way through the back entrance. They should be there in three, two, one." Tony was keeping look out on the roof when he spotted the trucks moving their way to a gate. He relayed the info to Natasha and Clint before making his way down through a hatch on the roof to get a better look as to what was happening inside.

He could not see Natasha at all but he saw Clint. "Clint, your ass is hanging out. They are going to spot you in a heartbeat."

Clint peeked up and glared at him before pulling himself further into hiding. A moment later, the trucks pulled into the warehouse and men jumped out.

"I count 12 men, all armed. I don't see the device yet." He relayed the information as he watched the guys carefully. Two men then jumped into the back of one of the trucks and pulled out a metal case. They brought it to the middle of the floor and sat it down. He heard them start the bidding and the numbers were high. _That must be the device._

"Guys, I think the device is in that case. Prepare for extraction," Tony said.

He saw Clint pull himself from his hiding place and pull an arrow into his bow. He let it fly, watching it as it struck the case. He pulled back on the sting attached to the arrow and pulled the case to him. The men, all startled, pulled out their guns and started firing. Clint jumped away and then Tony finally saw Natasha. She darted behind the group and took two of the men out before they realized they were being attacked. Tony then jumped from his perch and joined in on the fight. He noticed that Clint had gotten a hold of the case and was opening it.

"Guys, it's not here!" he yelled at his team. Inside of the large case was a very complicated looking rocket launcher instead of the device that they were after. The men heard him and fired their guns at him while he took cover behind a crate. He fired arrows at a lightning fast speed and took out a few of the men.

When Natasha heard Clint yell that the device wasn't there, she fought her way to the trucks to look for it. No one saw her since they were distracted by Tony and Clint. When she got to the second truck, she found the device in a small box and grabbed it. She pressed her hand to the comm' link and said, "I have it. Let's wrap it up." She jumped from the back of the truck and she froze. One of the men had the rocket launcher and was aiming right for her.

"Nat watch out!" Tony yelled. He ran for the man with the launcher and tackled him, but not before the weapon fired. Tony reached the man just in time to surprise him and the rocket launcher fired onto the roof. Debris fell and crates started to catch fire. A piece of roofing caught Natasha in the head and she fell to the floor, dazed.

Clint saw everything happen from the corner of his eye as he took out the remaining men. He saw the warehouse catch fire and knew that they all had to get out of there. Suddenly, one of the trucks near him exploded and took out support beams and they fell, blocking his way towards the rest of his teammates, and blocking their way of escape. There was no way he could reach them. The smoke was getting too thick so he had to get out of there.

From outside, Clint saw the blaze consume most of the warehouse. He feared for his friends lives. Natasha couldn't be in there. She has to get out. She fears nothing in the entire world, except fire.

When part of the warehouse fell, Tony saw that their way out was blocked, and that he couldn't see Natasha anymore. He used his suit to push through the fiery debris to help his fallen teammate. When he finally saw her, she was just lying there. She had her arm wrapped around her legs in the fetal position. He eyes reflected nothing but fire and fear. Tony had never seen his teammate so afraid and defeated.

As Natasha lay there watching the flames consume everything, she felt herself fall into paralysis. She was so scared that she couldn't even move. Her mind kept flashing back to the one fire that changed everything all those years ago. She kept thinking about how _they_ found out her fear and used it against her. She was shivering out of pure fear, and then she lost her breath. Panic then set in.

When Tony finally reached her, her body started going into convulsions. "Natasha! Natasha what's wrong? We have to get out of here!" She started choking and he realized that she couldn't breathe. He could recognize a panic attack anywhere, since he suffered from them. But this one was far worse. He didn't know what to do. He scooped her thrashing body up into his arms and looked for a way out. He soon realized that the only way out was up. He powered up his thrusters and shot through the roof, all while holding his dear teammate close.

When Clint saw Tony with Natasha in his arms flying towards him, he immediately knew what was wrong. He felt powerless when Tony layed her down in the grass next to him and saw her gasping for breath. He was amazed by what he saw next.

Tony layed Natasha down in the grass where Clint was waiting. He then ejected his suit off of him and knelt down on the ground with her while listening to her chest. He heard nothing from her lungs so he started CPR. He knew she was still conscious but she couldn't breathe. He smiled to himself when she took a ragged breath a moment later. He picked her up in his arms and tried talking her through the attack.

"Natasha, you're okay, the fire is gone. I got you out of there. Shhhh it's okay. Just breathe for me okay? Take a deep breath." He heard Natasha take another ragged breath, this time on her own. Clint could only watch as Tony talked her through it. She was staring up at Tony with pain written all over her face. Her chest was hurting so bad. Tony's soothing voice was slowly calming her down enough for her to take small breaths.

"I'm sorry to do this Nat but it will help," Tony said. He then ripped part of her suit off of her chest so that she could breathe better. He couldn't help but smile when she took a deep breath and started coughing. She could breathe again.

"That's it Natasha, just breathe. Don't yell at me yet, you need your breath back first. Then you can yell all you want." She started breathing slowly but strongly, her coughing dying down. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Tony Stark had just saved her life.

After lying there for a few minutes recovering and not saying anything, Clint helped her to her feet. She then glared at Tony.

He sighed. "Okay, you can yell at me now, you can breathe again." Natasha turned to Tony and shakily walked over to him, noticing him tense up. She stood right in front of him and the next thing Tony felt was her arms around his neck. "Thank you Tony,'' she whispered.

"Umm, yea, you're welcome." He held her close, comforting her. He started to regret all those times he pestered her with questions about her past. He even regretted staring his project again for the sole purpose of exploring her memories. But after what had just happened, he knew it was all the more important to continue. He looked over to the warehouse and noticed it almost burned to the ground. There was no doubt that the device was destroyed.

Tony held Natasha for a good minute before noticing how tired and exhausted she was. She was trembling and without a word, he scooped her into his arms and made his way to their vehicle. Natasha was about to protest but before she could say anything, Tony said, "nope, don't want to hear it. I know what a panic attack feels like and they leave me tired. But yours, yours was ten times worse. I don't know how you are even conscious right now. Not shut up and enjoy the ride." She laughed at him and protested no further. "Clint," he said, "be a good little hawkey and grab my suit will ya'?'

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When the team got back to the tower, Tony saw that Natasha had fallen asleep. He picked her up in his arms and brought her inside.

"Tony!" Bruce exclaimed, "What happened to her? Is she okay? Do you need me to call Fury?"

"No, no Brucy Bruce, she's just tired. I'm putting her to bed," Tony said.

"Just tired? And she's letting you carry her?"

"Yes Bruce, now shut up." Just then, Thor walked into the room, dropping his pop tarts because of the sight before him.

"Man of Iron! You have killed Lady Natasha! Surely her pranks haven't pushed you that far!"

"She's not dead you air head. She's just sleeping."

"But you are carrying her! She never lets anyone carry her, or touch her. I once tried to pick her up and she kicked me in the-"

"Okay Thor, we get it. Now if you will excuse me, I'm putting her to bed."

Once in Natasha's room, he layed her gently in bed. How she didn't wake up was beyond him. Just as he turned to walk out of her room, he heard her say something.

"What was that Tasha?" he asked.

"You can do it," she said as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I can do what?"

"The machine, you have my permission." She then rolled over and immediately fell back asleep.

Tony was left stunned. How could she have known about his machine? He kept his lab locked up and not a single soul besides his had been in in that lab since he started working on it again. He left the room and then ran into Clint.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's sleeping. What happened out there?"

Clint shifted nervously.

"You can tell me, I already know that she is afraid, no, terrified of fire. What happened to her?"

"I don't know really. All I know is every time she is around she is around it, she freezes up. Small fires don't affect her too much but the one today…I've never seen her that bad. She did tell me one thing though."

"What, what did she tell you?"

Clint began again. "She told me once that _fire made me who I am today._ That's it. She never says anything else about it."

"Well, thanks man. I'll be down in my lab if you need me." With that, he left and went to his lab. When he got there, he looked over at his machine and asked himself.

"_Am I doing the right thing?"_

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**Did yall like it? I hope so! I'm not sure if it's going to be a Natasha/Tony romance, I really just like the idea of them getting closer as friends. Let me know what yall think, your favorite part, and what you would like to see in the next chapter!**


	3. RR3 Into the Nightmare

**Thank you guys so much for the reviews! They have kept me motivated to keep updating as soon as possible! Yall rock!**

Chapter 3

The next day at the Avengers Tower, Tony was near finishing his machine. He kept running Natasha's words through his mind. _Fire made me who I am today. You can do it Tony. The machine, you have my permission._

He was in his lab hard at work. He was working on the control panel when he heard a small cough. He whirled around and saw _her_. She was just sitting on his desk, watching him work. She looked as if yesterday had never happened. She was back to her old self.

"Natasha! You scared the crap out of me! How the hell did you get down here? This room is secure."

"Psssh, secure. You do know who you are talking to don't you?" The red head was smirking at him. Her gaze flashed upward to the air vent.

"So that's how you knew about the machine. Why didn't you tell me?" Tony didn't understand.

Natasha jumped off of the desk and walked over to where Tony was working. She picked up one of his tools and distractedly played with it. She leaned against the chair and then looked up at him. "When you said you didn't trust me a few weeks ago, I knew that you really didn't mean it. You were just frustrated and I get that. I snuck through the air vents to put those all over your Iron Man suit to get back at you." She looked over to one of his work stations which was covered in Bob the Builder children's stickers.

"When the hell did those get there?!" Tony didn't know how he could have missed the 200 plus stickers covering one of his work stations.

"About an hour ago," she said. "I didn't want to waste them. Anyways, when I reached your lab, I noticed that you were trying to get into my case file. I was going to blow up your computer, but I stopped. I don't know why, but I let you keep hacking. I guess some part of me wanted you to know. And then you just stopped. I saw you press delete. That right there told me that you really did trust me, and respected my wishes, well, kinda. Since then, I've watched you work every day on that stupid thing and I've heard you over and over struggling with yourself as to if this was the right thing to do."

Tony smiled slyly at her. "Hey Ms. Stalker, you said to never crack your file to get to know you, you never said not to build a machine."

"Very clever Tony. The truth is, I want you to know. Clint knows some, but I just can't tell him everything. I can't tell anyone everything. It hurts too much. But after what we went through yesterday, I think it's time you all knew. So, let's get started."

Tony was left beaming. He couldn't believe how this turned out. He had imagined over and over the countless ways she would kill him for asking her to use the machine. He never expected that this would happen.

"Great! So you want to know how it works?"

"I get the gist of it but yeah," she said.

"Okay. We will both have to lie in these chairs and put these oh so fancy electrodes on. We will both be given an injection that puts us under into a deep sleep. When this here switch is flipped, the electrodes attached to you will transmit your memories from a certain point in your life into this machine. The machine will then send them to me and we will both be placed inside of your mind through the machine. It will be as if we are physically there, reliving the events. We will be able to talk to each other and walk around. This device here, will be attached to my wrist and will bring us to different places in time, inside of your mind."

Natasha was looking thoughtful. "But what if something goes wrong and we can't get out? What if it becomes too much and I want to leave?"

"Don't worry, I have a switch on this device that will take us out of there."

"How do you even know it is going to work? I mean, this is some pretty high tech stuff."

"I don't know that it will work." Tony said.

"What the hell Tony! You build all of this based on the hunch that it _might_ just work?"

"Ummm yep, pretty much." Tony flinched as she lightly punched his shoulder. Well, it was light for her.

"Whatever, let's just get started."

The two got hard at work. Natasha worked on the main machine, fine tuning it to fit her mind so that the transfer will go smoothly. Tony worked on the electrode part. He hid the part that would attach to her head, because needles were involved. He would deal with telling her later."

Tony and Natasha worked for two days straight, all withought leaving the lab. Food was sent down to them by a staff member. The two hadn't slept because they were so close. Since they were so engrossed in their project, Clint, Bruce, and Thor hadn't seen them and were worried that something could of happened. JARVIS told them that they were both in the lab but wouldn't say anything else about what they were doing. They decided to find out.

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"Shhh, I think I hear something!" Clint and the other two Avengers had their ears pressed to the lab door trying to hear from their missing teammates.

"What does it sound like my friend? All I can hear is nothing." Thor was trying his hardest to hear through the door but his ears weren't as sensitive as Clint's were.

"They are just talking. I can't hear what they are saying though. I think they are working on something."

Bruce could barely hear anything either. "What could they possibly be working on though? And together? That's odd," he said.

"Perhaps we could trick them into coming out? I saw something on the magic box once," Thor said.

"The magic box?" Clint and Bruce said in unison. "The television you mean?" Bruce asked.

"Yes, that contraption. May I give it a shot my friends?"

They looked at each other and then shrugged. "It couldn't hurt I guess."

Bruce and Clint took a step back, waiting for Thor to do whatever he was going to do. What he did next took them by surprise.

He pressed his finger to the speaker that led to the lab and yelled, "Help us friends! There is trouble in the meadow! Little Johnny has fallen into a well! We must go to his aid at once!"

Clint and Bruce exploded in laughter. They fell to the ground, holding on to their aching sides because of their uncontrollable laughter. Thor looked at them confused. From the lab, Tony and Natasha stopped working when they heard Thor's voice over the speaker. They also started laughing and walked over to the door to see what shrieking noise was.

When the door opened, they saw Bruce and Clint rolling on the floor and shrieking with laughter while a confused Thor looked at them. He was desperately trying to find out what made them laugh so hard. "What is it my friends? I saw it on the magic box and kind citizens came to the boy's aid! A furry creature by the name of Lassie even helped. Please, what is so funny?"

"Give it up Thor, It is a human thing," Tony said.

"My missing friends! I apologize, there is no Johnny in the well, it was just a ruse to find out what you guys were doing. See, I told you it would work" Thor said to the men still laughing uncontrollably on the floor.

"Not for the reason you think big guy." Natasha was laughing quietly as Clint and Bruce pulled themselves together.

Clint was stull chuckling when he faced Natasha and asked, "But seriously, what have you two been up to?"

Tony answered for her. "Come with me and we will show you. Is that okay Natasha?"

She nodded to him and they went into the lab.

"Thor," said Tony with his back turned, "don't touch anythi-" CRASH. Tony whirled around to face him and saw that he had knocked over one of his prototype suits.

"I believe the word is _ooops?_" Thor said as he looked guiltily to Tony.

"Its fine, Thor, just don't touch anything else," he said annoyed.

The group made their way to the back of the lab where their machine was located. Tony then explained to them what it did and what it was for. The group kept looking to Natasha as Tony explained that it was to be used on her. She avoided their gazes and instead busied herself with the final touches. The machine was ready.

The rest of the boys expressed their concerns and commented on how she doesn't have to go through with it, but Natasha shot down their concerns. After the arguing died down, the group left the lab to have dinner, and to get a good night's rest before the big day. Tomorrow was the day Tony has been waiting for, and the day Natasha had been dreading.

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When morning came, the Avengers assembled themselves in the lab to help Tony and Natasha through the experience. Tony was busy explaining to Bruce parts of the machine so that he could help if something went wrong. He would also be monitoring their body signs. There was a TV attached to the machine so that the other Avengers could see what Natasha and Tony were experiencing. While Tony talked to Bruce, Thor and Clint were reassuring Natasha. Finally, the moment came.

Natasha layed back in her chair which was reclined to where she was lying flat. Tony busied himself with attaching the electrodes all over her body. She was dressed in short black cotton shorts and a matching sports bra. She had protested at first but it was necessary so that the electrodes were exposed and so that her clothing didn't mess with the transfer. Tony on the other hand was dressed in a tank top and longer cotton athletic shorts since he wouldn't have as many electrodes.

"Okay Natasha, we have two more electrodes," he said. He pulled them out and that's when she saw the needles protruding from them.

"Tony! You never said anything about needles!"

"What, are you afraid of needles too," he said.

"Well no, but you still never said anything about them," Natasha responded grudgingly.

Tony laughed at her and proceeded to place them. "Well suck it up buttercup because here we go." He placed on needle into the side of her head, and the other was placed over her heart.

"See, that wasn't so bad. And look," he said as he held up two more needles, "these are for me and go exactly where yours go."

Natasha smiled at that and relaxed her body. She was all set up. Tony then layed in his chair positioned the same as Natasha's and was right beside her. Bruce helped Tony get his electrodes and needles put in and then powered up the machine. Tony attached the device to his wrist. Even though the device would be in the physical world, he would have access to it when he was linked to Natasha's mind. He had used a rare element that he kept from when the aliens attacked and it worked perfectly in this situation. He then had Bruce inject Natasha with the sleep aid and he waited for her to go under. But she didn't.

"Tash, that was a pretty powerful injection, you should have been knocked out." He lay there confused.

"Oh yea, I forgot to tell you about my enhancers."

"Enhancers?" he asked.

"Yes Tony, enhancers, just like Steve. Not really something I advertise. Just double the injection and I'll be out."

Bruce looked to Tony for conformation and Tony nodded. He gave more of the sleep aid to her and Tony watched as she drifted off. She grabbed his hand and Tony couldn't help but worry. She looked so peaceful, for the moment.

Bruce then injected Tony with his sleep aid and he drifted off to sleep all the while thinking of why and how Natasha had enhancers. But it would also explain a lot of how she always recovered quickly and seemingly moved at lightning fast speed.

Bruce, Clint and Thor all watched as Bruce flipped a switch and then watched as their friends drifted off into the nightmare that would soon consume them.

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Tony woke up freezing. He was so cold but why? He opened his eyes and saw nothing but white. There was snow everywhere. The world was white; there was almost no color except for a small flame beside him. He saw Natasha standing beside him with her red hair blowing in the wind. She didn't seem as cold as him.

"We made it?" he asked looking around. "Where are we? When are we?"

Natasha turned to him and said, "Stalingrad, 1935."

"1935?! But that would put you in your seventies, almost eighties!"

She just smiled and said, "Enhancers, as well as countless other experiments. Welcome to the Soviet Union Tony."

They had made it.

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**We finally made it! What did yall think? Let me know! And I've decided to just make it a Tony/Natasha story about becoming closer as friends. No romance! I am totally loving this story and will update as soon as I can!**


	4. RR4 Stalingrad 1935

**BOOM! Two updates in one day. Hope you enjoy this small taste of the Red Room. The next chapter will be intense.**

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Chapter 4

"_1935?! But that would put you in your seventies, almost eighties!" _

_She just smiled and said, "Enhancers, as well as countless other experiments. Welcome to the Soviet Union Tony."_

_They had made it._

"Come on Tony, let's get out of this wind." The wind was picking up and it was starting to snow harder.

It was almost unbelievable as to what the two felt. They were inside of Natasha's mind but they felt as they were out in the real world.

"Hmmm," Tony kept humming.

"What is it now." Tony looked deep in thought.

"I'm just wondering something. It's not important."

"What is it?"

"Well, I was just wondering, if we died in here, would we die in real life?"

Now that was a serious question. "I thought no one can see us here since we aren't technically, well, here?" Natasha was confused.

"Oh they can't see us or hurt us, I was just wondering if we say, freeze to death. Fall off of a cliff, stuff like that." He said all of this nonchalantly.

Natasha rolled her eyes at him. "Let's not find out Tony. Come on, we are almost there."

"Almost where?" he asked. He didn't get an answer. They walked for another ten minutes until Tony saw light ahead. "Civilization! Maybe its warm there." He looked to Natasha and saw her tearing up. "What did I say?" Again, she ignored him. They kept walking until Tony saw that it was a fire. There was a beautiful house ahead, and it was on fire.

Tony heard screaming coming from within. He couldn't see anyone through the blaze. "Tash, who is in that house?" Before he could get an answer, he saw a little girl jump from the top story of the house into a snowbank below. He had to admit that it was pretty impressive. The little girl got up unfazed and ran a little ways to escape the intense heat. She had on no shoes and was not dressed for the intense coldness of the night. She had on the most terrified expression and tears were streaming down her face. The thing that tore at Tony's heartstrings was the fact that her hair was a fiery red. The same color as Natasha's. He looked from the small child to his teammate. She was on her knees in the snow just staring at the house before her as it burned to the ground. He looked back to the little girl and realized that she mirrored Natasha. They were both kneeling in the same position, as if Natasha was reliving this event. This is where the fear of fire had started. He couldn't imagine watching as his parents burned alive and being able to do nothing about it.

"Мама папа вернуться к мне!" (Mama! Papa! Come back to me!)

Tony could hear the girl as clearly as if she was speaking English. That was the good part of Natasha working with him on the machine. Whatever was said in Russian would sound English to him.

The way the little girl screamed almost broke his heart. It was pleading and full of sorrow. He wanted desperately to comfort the girl, but he wasn't really there. The little girl was crying and Natasha had tears in her eyes. She looked up at Tony and said, "This is where they burned my house down. My father offended them somehow and they got their revenge. Him and my mother died in that fire." She looked over his shoulder and said, "And then _he_ came, after he set my house on fire of course."

Tony turned to see several men approaching the terrified girl. She didn't move when one of them knelt beside her and talked kindly to the girl.

"Little girl, how did you escape the fire?" the man said.

The girl didn't even look up as she told him that she had jumped from the third story window.

"You were not afraid little one?"

"no," she said simply.

Tony could see that the man was impressed. He nodded to his companions and said to them, "we have found her."

"My name is Ivan, Ivan Petrovitch. I am sorry but you parents are no more. Come with me little spider. I shall care for you." The little girl looked from Ivan to her house, and then back to him. She took his hand and stood up. "I am Natalia Alianova Romanova and I'm six years old. I no longer have a life here. I will go with you."

The way she said it was cold, as if her spirit was broken. Tony wanted to stop her, but knew he couldn't. As he watched the two walk away, he took the crying Natasha into his arms and let her cry for a moment.

"That was you?" She nodded into his chest and then pulled herself together. She took the lead and followed quite literally in her own footsteps.

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They arrived to a military grade truck and watched as Ivan and Natalia got in. Tony and Natasha also pulled themselves into the truck and sat down for the ride. Natasha simply looked out of the back of the truck as they rode but Tony, he glared at the man seated across from him. He couldn't help but notice the way he grasped the little girls hand almost possessively. As for the girl, there were so many emotions splayed across her face. Fear, pain, sorrow, hopefulness, and dozens more. She was no longer crying though.

An hour later, they pulled up to a large stone building. They had passed through heavily guarded gates. The gates were about fifteen feet tall and looked to be reinforced with razor wire. The group got out of the truck as well as Tony and Natasha. Ivan the knelt down to the little girls level.

"Now listen carefully, I have to place this sack over your head in order to lead you in there because it is top secret. But don't worry; I'll be holding your hand the entire time." Natalia nodded to the man and allowed him to slip the sack over her head. Tony and Natasha followed behind as she was led into a building and down a maze of halls, tunnels, and stairways. Tony's ears popped when they finally made their way to a small room deep underground. Ivan took the sack off of her head and knelt down beside her.

"Now, the only way you can stay here is if you pass a simple test for me. Could you do that?"

The girl nodded. She desperately wanted a place to belong since she turned her back on her old life. She was trying to be brave, just like her father had told her to be when they talked for the last time.

"Okay, now I want you to find your way back to the truck. Without any help." Tony couldn't believe it. He didn't even know how to get out of there and he wasn't even blindfolded. He noticed Natasha smile to herself. "Watch this," she said.

Withought a word, the little girl turned and went back the way they came. She confidently led the way back through the tunnels, halls, and stairs and made her way back to the truck. She made it there without a single wrong turn or a slow to her steps.

Ivan clapped gleefully to himself and told her that she had passed. Then she noticed his features change. He became stiffer and the smile left his face. His eyes became menacing and little Natalia became scared. He had stopped pretending.

"You are mine now. Welcome to the Black Widow program young Natalia." The little girl turned to run but was quickly caught by a large man behind her. She struggled for a moment before a needle was shoved into her arm. She then became unconscious and was dragged back into the building.

Tony was furious with the man as he followed them back inside. He quickly realized that Natasha was not with him. In fact, he didn't even remember her coming back out with them. When they made it to another room deep in the building, he noticed Natasha sitting on a strange chair. She got up when they came in and watched as the little girl was placed in the chair.

"Where did you go?" Tony asked.

"I didn't want to walk down those halls again. I hate them." Tony simply nodded and waited with the rest of them.

"Hey," he said. "How did you do that? Find your way back to the truck and all."

"I don't know. I could always memorize paths. That stuck with me even through the brain washings.'

After another few minutes in silence, he asked Natasha what they were doing.

"They are waiting for me to wake up. But I'm faking it. I woke up about five minutes ago. My father said that whenever a person wakes up, they should wait to open their eyes. That way, you could gather information without anyone knowing. It was a game we used to play every morning."

Without warning, the little girl shot up from the chair and ran to the closed door. Much to her dismay, she found it locked. She whirled around to face the men in the room and prepared to attack. One man grabbed her and she started to kick wildly. Ivan simply watched. She caught one man in the face and broke his nose. Tony was cheering her on until Ivan got bored and walked up and caught her by the throat. He picked her up and slammed her against the wall, all the while holding the small girl by the neck. "Now you listen to me. You will do as I say. I'm going to put you down and you are going to walk over to that chair and lie down. I will try not to make it painful unless you do something else stupid!" The man put her down and Natalia obediently walked over to the chair and layed down. A doctor then walked into the room and placed a contraption on her head and hooked her to a bunch of wires. The process took a while but it was finally complete.

"Nat, what are they doing to you?" Tony was deeply concerned for the child's safety. But she would live through it he knew because he was standing right next to the grown up version of the girl.

"They are wiping my memory. They started with that machine and then turned to other methods later on when the machine broke and almost killed me."

She turned away when the machine was turned on. Electricity shot through the machine and Tony watched as the girls back arched in pain. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as the last six years of her life were ripped out of her head. How could they do this to a little girl? She was only six!

Tony had to turn away from the girl's immense pain. It was too much for him. When it was finally over, he looked back at her. She had blood pooling from her nose and tears of blood leaked from her eyes. She was unconscious yet again. They wanted her awake to make the process as painful as they could. They could have simply done it when she was out the first time. This place was horrible already.

"Did it work?" Ivan asked the doctor.

"We won't know until she wakes up."

"Fine," he said. He walked up to the girl and whispered to her, "Welcome to Red Room."

Ivan then told the men to bring her to her room. Once again, the two Avengers followed the man and little girl. Natasha wiped her eyes, not noticing that Tony saw her. He didn't say anything though. The girl was placed into a room with no furnishings. The entire room was made of stone and was freezing. There was a small fire in the middle and a blanket in the corner. This was no place to live.

"This was my room for the next four years," Natasha whispered. The girl was layed down by the small fire and then left alone. The two Avengers stayed with the girl for a while before they left. Mostly so Tony could wind down from his anger.

"Did the brainwashing work?" he asked.

"Yea it did."

"But how do you remember?"

"I made them make me."

Tony looked at her to explain more but Natasha just stared into the fire, just like she did every single night in that room.

"Are you ready to jump Natasha?"

She replied with a simple nod and then told him to jump to tomorrow night. Little Natalia wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

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**I decided to give yall a small taste of Red Room since I got off work early. How was it? They next chapter will be intense and not for the faint of heart. **


	5. RR5 Into the Flame, 24 Down

Chapter 5

"_Are you ready to jump Natasha?"_

_She replied with a simple nod and then told him to jump to tomorrow night. Little Natalia wouldn't be waking up anytime soon._

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Bruce watched with concern as his teammates monitors jumped to life as they went under the anesthesia. The TV screen turned on and the window to the world was open. He, as well as Clint and Thor, watched as they confronted the fire. There wasn't anything they could do to comfort their favorite red head since they were in the real world. It was up to Tony to take care of her.

Clint was impressed at Tony. He was being sensitive and caring towards Natasha, something he never thought he would see. He was also a little jealous that Tony was the one to accompany her through this event. He watched as Natasha fell to her knees in the cold winter snow, looking longingly towards her once beautiful and happy home. He walked over and squeezed his friend's hand, trying to comfort her. He knew she couldn't feel it but it made him feel better all the same.

Thor simply stood quietly and watched the events happen. He didn't quite understand Earths history or human emotions. He did know for sure though that this was a horrible time for Natasha and he would be there to support her when she woke up. When the little girl was put into the chair, he had to turn away and cover his ears. The screams were so horrible and it scared him that a human being could do this to another human, especially an innocent little girl. He looked over at Clint and Bruce and they were also facing away from the horror on the screen.

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The night after the brainwashing, the little girl was finally waking up. She looked around, dazed. Tony noticed that she didn't look scared, only confused. He watched as she got up and walked over to the door. She called out a simple hello and a few minutes later, Ivan, the doctor, and a few armed men came into the room.

"Hello there little girl, can you tell me your name?" The doctor began the interrogation to see is the brainwashing worked. Ivan looked on with a small grin on his face.

"I, I don't remember," she said. "Where am I? What happe-?" Before the girl could finish her sentence, she was sent flying across the room with a smack to the face. Her arm landed in the small fire and she let out a small scream as the flame burned her skin. The doctor glared at Ivan, who had smacked the girl for speaking out of order.

Ivan kept his face straight and watched the girl pull herself up. She walked back over to the men and stayed quiet, this time with a glint of fear and pain in her eyes. He noticed a small trail of blood lead from her lip to the stone floor below, as well as the large burn wound on her arm.

"You will only answer our questions, never ask them. Is that understood?"

Little Natalia looked at the scary man and nodded her head yes.

"Now, doctor, you may continue."

The doctor looked sympathetically to the girl and continued.

"So you do not know your name?

"No sir."

"Do you know where you are?"

"No."

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

"No."

"Do you have any parents?"

"I don't know." When she responded to this, she looked down to her burning arm. She missed the next question. She was fascinated by the blackened skin. When she didn't answer the question, the doctor saw Ivan moving in to punish the girl for not answering but he blocked him with his arm.

"Wait, I want to see something," he said. Ivan just looked at him strangely and then looked back to the girl. He then noticed the concentrated look on the girls face.

She was holding her arm, just looking at it. She then looked towards the fire and walked over to it. She stared into its flames for just a minute. Tony had no idea what she was doing. He looked over at Natasha for the first time but she was just simply watching.

Out of nowhere, the little girl jumped into the fire and started screaming. Ivan, the doctor, and the armed men all rushed to her aid and tried pulling her out.

"No!' she screamed. "They are in there! My parents! They are in the flames! I see them! Help me get them out!"

The men finally dragged her burned body out of the flames and Ivan looked pissed.

"Send her back to get her treatment," he said.

The doctor looked horrified and responded with "sir, she was just brainwashed yesterday, she needs to recover, and we need to have her wounds looked at!"

"I don't care! You have failed! She remembered!"

"Ivan, listen to me, it was just a trigger. If it weren't for the fire, she may not have even remembered. We just need to keep her away from fire."

Ivan thought about this for a moment. "No. we need to break her of this _trigger_. Use it against her. This is the only way. Now send her for her treatment, and then you may look at her burns. I'll be in my office."

The doctor looked at him stunned. How cruel could this may actually be? When the super serum is ready, how far will he push this little girl? He simply nodded to the man and had the guards pick the girl up and carry her back to the room she was in the night before.

Tony couldn't believe what just happened. He also couldn't believe how Natasha just stood there and watch herself be hurt like that, but that's when he noticed that she wasn't looking at the scene unfold before her. She was looking into the fire.

"C'mon Nat, let's go. Or do you want to stay here?"

"I'm coming." She turned on her heel and made her way to the room with her childhood self.

When they reached the room, the little girl was already strapped in the chair. They headpiece was put on and the doctor was about to flip the switch. He then sent the guards out to give the girl some privacy. He debated on whether or not to flip the switch but he knew he had to. Without looking, he flipped it. The girls scream tore through the silence once more as blood ran from her eyes and nose. This time Tony noticed a few drop come from her ear. Her back was arched again and she fought against the restraints, trying her best to get away from the pain. When it was over, she just lay there.

Tony was shaking from anger. He walked over to the doctor and tried to punch him square in the face but his fist simply went through, as if he was a ghost. It made him angry. He wanted, no, needed to hurt someone. His breathing became rapid and he was close to losing it, but then, he felt a cool hand on his shoulder. He looked and found Natasha standing there.

"It's not worth it Tony. In the long run, I deserve it."

"No one deserves this Nat. Not even you. You had no control over whatever you did. They did."

"Tony please, I need you to be strong. For me."

Tony then noticed the haunted look in her eyes. She wasn't dealing with this. He needed to pull himself together. He took a deep breath and then turned back to the scene before him.

The doctor was putting burn creams on the little girl and was humming soothingly to her. He saw her eyes flutter and she started to wake up. She looked up at the man hovering above her and once again, looked unafraid.

The doctor went over his list of questions again and this time, nothing happened to trigger her memory. He then went over who she was.

"Your name is Natalia and that is it. You have no last name. You are a ballerina and you are very good at it. You are to do anything that is said to you with no questions asked. No talking back, no questions, no hesitations. The man you are about to meet, you will call him father and he will be your instructor. Tonight, you train to do what he tells you. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

He then took her by the hand and walked her to Ivan's office. Her steps were shaky but this _treatment_ had no side effects like last time when she was unconscious for a whole day.

Ivan was over the top with excitement when he saw Natalia and that she was okay and knew nothing of her past. She was almost a newborn. She had no fear because she hadn't learned it yet. She obeyed every order withought hesitation. Through the next few time hops, Tony watched as young Natalia grew and became a dangerous killer by her next birthday. He watched how one wrong step would cause a blow to the head or a strike of a whip. He watched as she learned to be the best.

She was now being trained alongside 24 other girls in the Black Widow program. They trained together, and fought against one another. They all thought of each other as sisters, even though it was dangerous to be close to someone. You never knew when that person would be taken away. Natalia remained the favorite of Ivan and he had her training doubled. She was now extremely skilled at ballet and gymnastics. The way her body could twist and turn fascinated him. She was already skilled with almost any weapon.

One day, Tony watched as she sparred with one of the girls. The other girl stopped suddenly and asked Natalia where she got her burns from. Natalia froze. Her body was covered in burns, and not just the ones she got from when she was in the fire. There were dozens more from when she started to remember or said something and she was tortured, with fire.

Natalia almost started to cry. Father had said that in order to avoid punishments, she would be allowed to break whatever made her ask. She knew that she was burned when she said certain things, she just didn't know what it was anymore because all she could think about was the punishment that she would receive. She was surely broken now and never triggered. She was terrified of fire though. She saw father watching them and he gave her a nod. He had heard them.

Tony knew what was coming next. He almost wanted to cover his eyes but he couldn't. There was something beautiful about the way Natalia moved. The little assassin took a fighting stance and saw the look of regret in the other girl's eyes. The other girls in the room sensed that something was up and all crowded around. Natalia took the first shot. She flew to the ground and swiped her leg in a circle, knocking her opponent's legs out from underneath her. The other girl, trained for this type of situation recovered quickly and matched Natalia blow for blow until Natalia was able to flip over the girls shoulders and grab her head, flinging her onto the ground. She jumped onto the girl and straddled her midsection, prepared to choke the girl to death. The look of pure terror in the girl's eyes startled Natalia. She started to let the girl get up but lost her focus and was caught off guard when she was thrown off in a last attempt of the girl to escape the clutches of death. The other girl tried jumping onto Natalia but Natalia jumped up and grabbed the girl again, throwing her back onto the ground. This time, the girl landed on her feet but slipped in a pool of her own blood and Natalia didn't hesitate to bring her foot down onto the girls back, breaking her spine instantly, killing the girl. The other girls in the room showed no emotion. They knew that if someone died in Red Room, it was their own fault. They then went back to sparring with each other. Ivan walked over then and grabbed Natalia by the arm, dragging her out of the room. Tony and Natasha followed.

Tony saw how much this time hopping to horrible events was affecting the redhead. She looked as strong as ever but the way she now carried herself made Tony worry. He knew they would have to take a break from this soon. They didn't get tired, no matter how long they were in the dream state because in the real world, they were technically asleep. Natasha though, was looking real bad and Tony was deeply concerned. She didn't talk as much and all she did was follow him around and stare blankly at the horror around them.

Ivan pulled Natalia out of the room and slammed her against the wall. He looked down on her and was furious. She knew why he was mad though. She had showed mercy. Ivan wasn't sure what to do with her. She was his best girl and the rest of them could go to hell for all he cared. The serum was ready, enough for one girl; he only needed to test her out first. She needed a punishment and he knew just the one. He leaned down and whispered in Natalia's ear.

Tony strained to hear what he was saying. He looked to Natasha for an explanation. A look of horror covered Natasha's face and she broke down.

"Oh my God, not this, not this!"

Natasha started shaking, knowing what was coming next for Red Room. A panic attack was coming on and Tony rushed to her aid as she collapsed onto the floor. He heard the door to the room open and close and noticed that Ivan and Natalia had gone back into the room. But what was going to happen that made Natasha collapse like this?

"Go, Tony, you wanted to see," she said between gasps for air.

"It's okay Natasha, I don't have to, I want to make sure you're alright."

"I'm fine, now go."

"But-," he said before he heard screams come from the room.

"GO TONY!"

Tony reluctantly left his teammates side and opened the door. What he saw almost stopped his heart.

Natalia was dancing. It was so beautiful. But why was there screaming? Then he saw the blood. It was a dance of death. She was moving so gracefully it seemed like a dance. But she was killing them all. All 25 girls in the room were moving, being attacked by one girl, Natalia.

Tony looked on in horror; he turned back to the open door and noticed that Natasha was lying on the ground, still. She wasn't moving. He rushed back over to her and saw that she was unconscious and barely breathing. He had to get her out of there. He cradled her in his arms and pressed the button on his wrist that would bring them back to the real world. But it wouldn't work. Why wouldn't it work? He looked at Natasha's face and suddenly realized that he couldn't live without her. Her life was fading and it was his fault.

Then he had an idea. The rest of the guys were watching from the TV.

"Bruce! Get us out of here! NOW!" He felt a tingling as they began to fade from the dream world. He looked back through the door and saw that the room was red with blood and the girls were still fighting. She couldn't possibly kill them all, could she?

The test had begun.

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**I'm sooooooo sorry it took me so long to update. I'm in the middle of moving and I haven't had time recently. That you so much for the follow and favs! Love you guys! Review and give me some ideas! Also, Steve will be back in the next chapter. And what will happen to Natasha? Stay tuned!**


	6. RR6 Trapped and Connected

Chapter 6

"_Bruce! Get us out of here! NOW!" He felt a tingling as they began to fade from the dream world. He looked back through the door and saw that the room was red with blood and the girls were still fighting. She couldn't possibly kill them all, could she?_

_The test had begun._

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"Clint, calm down," Bruce said. They had just witnessed on the screen little Natalia kill the other girl who had asked about her burns.

"I can't Bruce, you do realize that this is her first kill right? This is probably with her all the time. Didn't you see it in her eyes?!" His fist slammed into a nearby table. "She didn't want to do it but she didn't want to be punished either."

Bruce understood where he was coming from. He wanted to get mad too, but he couldn't let himself. The other guy wouldn't hesitate to come out. Clint was shaking from anger. Bruce looked over to the body monitors and noticed that Natasha's heart rate was starting to increase. _It could be the stress,_ he thought.

"He is right my friend," Thor said. "They would have most likely have doused her arm with kerosene and lit it on fire like last time. Or maybe put out their smelly light sticks…cigars I presume, on her bare skin again. The possibilities are endless!"

Bruce processed this and glanced at the TV monitor again. There was something big happening.

"Oh my God, wh- what's she doing?" Clint had been watching the whole time and saw Natasha collapse and little Natalia go back into the room with Ivan behind her. Natasha's heart monitor was now jumping off the charts and Bruce ran to her side. He glanced up at the screen also and saw Natalia on a killing spree. He turned his attention back to the unconscious red head lying before him and ran through a list of things he needed to do, the first being to try and stabilize her.

Thor was frozen in fear for his friend. He watched as the little girl twirled and flipped, all the while landing killing blows on her victims with tears streaming from her eyes. She was provided with a small knife and blood was flying everywhere. She darted between one of the girls legs and cut into a tendon, causing her to fall down in pain. Natalia turned and brought the knife into her heart and Thor could have sworn he saw her lips form the words _I'm sorry._ She slashed and slashed until she was covered in blood and was the last one standing. Thor couldn't believe what had just happened. Then he watched as the little girl collapsed in exhaustion, her head hitting the floor and knocking her unconscious. He then heard a commotion on the other side of the room.

"Thor! We need you over here!" He looked to his friends and saw them trying to hold Natasha down. Her body was violently thrashing and they were trying to strap her down in order to keep her from hurting herself. He looked at the screen one last time and saw Tony call out to Bruce to pull them out of there.

"Bruce, the man of Iron has requested that you remove them from there."

"I already have, now come help me!"

Just then, Natasha's heart rate flat lined. Her thrashing body fell back limply and her head rolled to the side. A small stream of blood ran from her nose and she wasn't moving.

"Clint!" Bruce shouted, "Start CPR now!" Bruce then ran to the other side of the room, past the still frozen Thor, and grabbed the crash cart. He wheeled it over and placed the paddles to her heart and chest.

Tony watched from his paralyzed body. He couldn't move yet because of the drugs but he could see his friend dying. He put her through all of this just to satisfy his curiosity and now she was paying the price. He saw Bruce trying his hardest to bring his dear teammate back.

"Clear!" he called out. A surge of electricity flew into the unmoving body and made it jump. Nothing happened. He called out "Clear" again and this time the monitor spiked but flat lined again. "CLEAR!" he yelled angrily this time and sent the shock. The body jumped once again but did nothing more.

Clint looked over to him with tears in his eyes, knowing that there was nothing else he could do. Then he noticed Bruce turning green, and his clothes becoming smaller.

"Bruce, you need to calm down, take a deep breath, don't let the other guy take over." Bruce was furious. He couldn't save her and it was his entire fault. He could have done something when he first noticed the change in Natasha's heart monitor. He looked over to Tony who was still lying in the chair, trying to wake up from the drugs.

"Why not? I've failed! She's dead and there was nothing I could do to stop it!" As he finished his words, the other guy broke free. The Hulk was standing where Bruce once was and he looked pissed. The out of nowhere, a body crashed into the Hulk and sent him flying across the room. Thor had finally snapped out of it and come to the rescue. The Hulk grabbed the god by his leg and then flung him across the room. His eyes then locked onto Natasha and he made a step forward. He was struck by an arrow that simply bounced off of his thick skin but it made him mad. In a rage, he flew towards Clint and grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against a wall. When he was the Hulk, he didn't know what he was doing, but he did know he was about to crush this guy's windpipe. Then he felt something hit him across the back, and it actually hurt this time. He whipped around to face his attacker and saw a man with a red, white, and blue shield on his arm with a white star in the middle.

"What the hell is going on here?" Steve yelled.

"Natasha died and Bruce hulked out," Clint choked out.

Steve Rogers looked over to the other side of the room and notice Tony and Natasha. He saw Tony trying to move and Natasha not moving. Her body was at an odd angle and she had a rather large stream of blood coming from her nose. _She's dead? _Then all he saw was green when the Hulk snatched him up and threw him into Thor, who was trying to jump onto the Hulk.

Clint then jumped onto the distracted Hulk but was thrown to the other side of the room, colliding with Natasha, and knocking them both to the ground. Clint picked Natasha's limp body up and held her protectively in his arms as he kneeled and as the Hulk advanced onto them. Knowing that this was the end, Clint shut out the world and looked down at the angelic face that he was holding so close. He planted a last kiss on her forehead and then closed his eyes, holding onto the one he loved, but would never admit. She was the love of his life and if she was dead, he wouldn't mind dying too. The world would be too cold without her. He was giving up, but that's when he felt a small breath on his face. He opened his eyes and looked down at Natasha once more. Then he felt it again. He leaned closer and felt a breath stir from her lips. She was alive.

"She, she's alive!" he yelled, looking up. The Hulk stopped in his tracks at the words. He looked at the small body in Clint's arms and noticed color in the girl's cheeks. She was indeed alive. He felt himself calming and changing back. After a few moments, Bruce stood where the Hulk once was and then he fell to his knees in relief.

Steve looked around the room in pure confusion. He saw Thor picking himself off the ground, Bruce change back, Tony fall off the table in his efforts to wake up and Natasha in Clint's arms, still unconscious. "What the hell just happened?" he said.

Bruce pulled himself together and ran to Clint and Natasha.

"Clint, put her on the table." He said. There were no time for apologies; he had to check her out first. He hooked her back up to the machines and looked her over. She was still unconscious but she was breathing. Why wasn't she waking up though? Her heartbeat was still shaky but strong. He looked at her some more but then noticed cuts along her body.

"Did I do that?" he asked fearfully.

Clint answered with, "No, I wrapped myself around her when you, um, threw me into her so she wouldn't get hurt. I don't have any cuts either." Steve walked over to get a closer look as well as Thor. Tony was still lying on the floor but he could feel his legs now but was trying to figure out how to get them to stand up. He still couldn't talk yet though.

Bruce looked closer and saw that she had a long gash going up her side, one that would need stitches. She also had a bruise on her forehead and more bruises, scratches and cuts covering her body, it looked as if she had been up against the Hulk as well.

Steve, still not understanding what was going on let his eyes wander around the room. He saw a strange machine and two chairs hooked to them. Behind them was a large TV monitor with a movie playing, a gory one at that. There were girls lying all around the room, dead, and covered with blood. The only thing moving was a man standing over one of the girls grinning from ear to ear. Steve walked over to the movie and studied it. The man was standing over a girl with fiery red hair, just like Natasha's. In fact, she looked just like Natasha, only younger. He looked at her closer and saw that the girl was breathing, but she was also bleeding as well. She had a long gash going up her side and a large bruise on her forehead. There were also various other bruises, scratches and cuts covering the little girl. Then something hit him. The girl's injuries, he looked back over to Natasha and noticed the extremely similar cuts, bruises and gashes.

"Guys…" he said. The gang all looked over to him and then to the screen. They walked over to it and looked at what Steve was looking at. Then Tony found his voice.

"That screen should be off since we got out of there. It must be broken." He walked over to Natasha and saw her battered body. Then he looked at the screen that the others were looking at. He realized what they were looking at. Natalia had the same injuries as Natasha. He froze in horror. This couldn't be happening.

The others ran back to Natasha's and indeed, the injuries were the same but how? Clint squeezed her hand and looked back over to the screen. He watched as Ivan drew a knife from his pocket and kneeled down to the girl. He put the knife to the little girl's chest and carved an intricate looking spider into the skin. Clint, Thor, Steve, Tony, and Bruce all gasped in horror as Natasha's skin opened up on her chest and a spider carving appeared, leaving the skin torn and bleeding.

Tony almost passed out from the horror. "She's still in there. The two girls, they are one now. It's all my fault. I have to get her out of there."

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**My goodness! Thank you all so much for the reviews and follows! **_**Carolzocas**_**, I do not mind the long review, I love it as well as your thoughts! Your philosophy teacher would be proud. And **_**ally**_**, no IronWidow haha, Clintasha all the way! Although it won't be focused too much on that kind of stuff. All of your reviews and ideas help me keep going so keep it up! Gimmie ideas for later chapters! Peace!**


	7. RR7 Simply Existing

Chapter 7

_Tony almost passed out from the horror. "She's still in there. The two girls, they are one now. It's all my fault. I have to get her out of there."_

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Natasha woke up feeling tired and sore. Her memory was still fuzzy but she remembered killing her friends, no, her sisters. Wait, she did that years ago. Why would she be remembering that now? She tried getting up but then noticed her body strapped to a chair. Slightly panicked, she looked around the room and saw a man with his back turned from her. It was Dr. Andrei, the one who was always so nice to her during her "treatments" when she was in Red Room. But he died long ago. He was fiddling with a vial and calculating a dosage. From the looks of it, it looked like there was only enough liquid in the vial for one person. She knew it was injected into her so long ago. The super serum that Ivan had promised to the girl that "won." She never imagined that the test would be to kill every single girl she had trained alongside of. Natasha tried to close her eyes at the memory but opened them again when she heard the door open.

Ivan walked into the room feeling extremely excited. Today was the day the super serum would be put into action. After years of waiting for it to be ready, it was finally in his hands. He saw Natalia looking at him and he just winked at her. He then walked over to the doctor to prepare for the procedure.

"Are we ready yet Andrei?"

"Sir, what if it doesn't work? It has taken years for it to be developed and this is all we have. Plus, we don't know what it will do to her. She is the best and you completely went against orders and had the other candidates killed." Dr. Andrei was desperately trying to voice his concerns to Ivan but he never listened.

"I said, is the serum ready, doctor?" Ivan was growing extremely impatient. He was ready for this to work so he could move forward with his plans. He had made a lot of enemies over the years and it would be a relief to have them off of his back. He would send Natalia after them.

"Yes, it's ready. Let's begin."

The two walked over to the young girl and watched her look fearfully up to them. She had not said a word since she woke up strapped into the chair.

"Natalia, are you ready?"

No one had called Natasha that since Red Room. Wait, she was in Red Room? But how? They had her strapped down but nothing was supposed to be able to hurt or touch her, and there was a stinging on her chest and she felt as if she had lost a lot of blood. Then it hit her. Natasha was Natalia. She was trapped inside of Natalia's mind. And she could feel everything around her. She had no control over her movements. She was simply existing inside of the young girl, watching and feeling all over again.

She wanted to scream, but she couldn't; she was trapped. She tried to close her eyes but it wouldn't work. She was helpless. Natasha in that moment, wanted to die.

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Natalia watched as the doctor and Ivan approached. She knew she was going to be injected with the serum. The only thing she could do was wait for the agony. And then it came.

The needle was stuck into her vein and the evil liquid quickly spread throughout the girl's body. It felt as if she was on fire, again, but this time it was ten times worse. Her body started convulsing as she pulled against the restraints. She pulled so hard in her agony that there was a small cracking noise heard in the room. Her wrist had broken, but she kept pulling on the restraints. Harder and harder she pulled as the serum coursed through her body. She started feeling stronger, could think more clearly, and a million other things at once. The pain intensified to the point where she almost blacked out.

To see a child suffer like this is horrible but it only made Ivan happy. He would have his very own super assassin to toy with. He couldn't keep the smile off of his face as the little girl before him convulsed and broke her body in order to escape the pain. The smile was soon wiped off of his face when she broke through her restraints and jumped off of the table. No one should have been able to break those bonds. She was indeed changing.

Natalia was on fire. She pulled as hard as she could at the restraints, ignoring the pain in her wrist, and finally broke free. She jumped off of the table and ran to the corner of the room. She couldn't think straight and she felt as if she had no control over her body. It just did what it wanted. Maybe it was the serum working its way through, she didn't know. She fell against the wall and shrunk down, trying to escape the invisible flames. She pulled at her skin, scratching until she was bleeding, trying to put the pain out. All the while this was happening, Natasha, still trapped in Natalia's mind, could only silently endure this pain a second time. It was tearing her apart from the inside out and she tried her hardest to block it out, but in vain. She screamed along with Natalia, not being able to escape the pain. This by far was the worst pain she had ever felt in her life and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She remembered this moment every single time she saw fire. It brought her back to all of the pain and suffering she went through just to be used by a sick and sadistic man.

Natalia felt as if she were thrown into a volcano, reduced to ash, and then fire set to the ash until there was nothing left. To go through this twice was enough scar someone for life. She couldn't think anymore, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't even feel. She became numb to life around her. As the fire left her body, she was left shaking on the ground. She couldn't remember anything. The agony basically brainwashed her. She was another person. Natasha on the other hand was having trouble hanging on to her memories as well. The intense pain is supposed to make you forget.

Ivan and Dr. Andrei watched nervously as Natalia went through her ordeal, hoping that she would come out of it alive. After ten minutes of watching her tear at her skin, she finally stopped. Dr. Andrei ran over to her to check out her injuries and found her arms and legs bleeding profusely. He gently led her back to the table to fix her up. After he grabbed a rag to press on a gash, he found that it had already stopped bleeding. Upon a closer look, he was surprised to see that the wound was closing itself up.

"Ivan! Come and look at this! She's healing!"

Ivan ran over to look and was ecstatic to find that the serum worked. It was time to send her into the field for a test run.

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"What the hell Tony! She's trapped? How can she be trapped in there if you got out!?" Clint was furious. Natasha looked so pale and miserable laying on that table. She was going through hell.

Tony yelled back at him. "I don't know! Everything was the same with the hookup…except for her crystal. Maybe that did something. The hell if I know." He was frustrated at the whole situation.

"What crystal Tony?" Bruce asked him calmly, knowing that Tony liked to put twists into his experiments without having them tested first.

"One I picked up after the Chitauri invasion. It had amazing qualities and seemed perfect for the machine."

"Man of Iron, please tell me that this is one of those Midgardian jokes. Chitauri crystals are extremely dangerous, and are banned from Asgard. They are unpredictable and if you used one, it may be too late to save her." Thor had never sounded more serious and worried.

All heads, Thor, Bruce, Clint, and Steve, turned towards Tony with concern.

Tony was now ten times more worried. He should have talked to Thor first about using alien crystals. "Ummmm yea, I used one."

"What the hell Tony!" Bruce yelled.

"It was the only thing I could think of to link her mind to the machine and have it work! I'm stupid I know and I'm sorry. Now please, help me save her." Tony was practically in tears at this point.

The teams angry faces softened a bit at his plead. Tony rarely ever apologizes at something.

Clint breaks up the moment with "I hate to break up this pity party but something is happening on the screen."

Everyone looks to Natasha's screen just in time to see a needle shoved into Natalia's arm. They all knew it was the serum, except for Steve. He missed that part of the conversation.

They stood by in horror as their teammate thrashed on the table in pain. They watched as tears streamed down the sleeping Natasha's face and as her wrist broke. They watched as her skin tore open and listened to her screams. Bruce had to leave the room because he was getting too upset and didn't want to hulk out and hurt her. Thor, Steve, Clint, and Tony watched as their teammate was tortured to the brink of submission. They never wanted to hear her scream like that ever again. None of them could imagine being in that much pain.

After the ordeal was over, Bruce came back in to observe her injuries. They all crowded around to watch him work, they didn't want to leave her side.

She had claw marks all over her arms, torso, and legs from her trying to release the pain from within. She had broken through her restraints from the pain but remained on the table. Her wrist was broken as well as all of her nails. She was a bloody mess and it made it hard to see any other injuries. Bruce ordered a blood transfusion because of all the blood loss and also a morphine drip. He hoped that this would help her wherever she was.

As he was addressing her wounds, he discovered that they were already healing. He looked to the screen along with the rest of the Avengers and they saw that Natalia was also healing.

Natasha had kept from the avengers that she had a super serum similar to Steve's. It was never a big secret but it is never fun to tell someone your age, especially when you are older that all of them, even Steve. The Black Widow had been enhanced by biotechnology that makes her body resistant to aging and disease and heals at an above human rate as well as psychological conditioning that suppresses her memory of true events as opposed to implanted ones of the past without the aid of specially designed system suppressant drugs. Due to the Super-Soldier Serum, the white blood cells in her body are efficient enough to fight off any microbe, foreign body and others from her body, keeping her healthy and immune to most, if not all infections, diseases and disorders. Also, it takes quite a bit for Natasha to become intoxicated. Her agility is greater than that of an Olympic gold medalist. She can coordinate her body with balance, flexibility, and dexterity easily.

Steve was amazed when he was told this. Here he thought he was alone but his teammate was almost just like him. Clint told him all about it so it would distract him from the red head. Natasha had confided this information to him on a mission a few years back.

"But why did her body react like that and mine didn't?" Steve asked him.

"The serum they used on her was the first ever in existence. It was way more powerful than yours. I don't know how you received the serum because Natasha told me that she tracked down the list and destroyed it before more could be made. What you got was the more diluted version I guess you could say."

Steve was amazed and instantly felt closer to the red head. He now had someone to relate to, then a question dawned on him. "Is she stronger than me?"

Clint smiled mischievously.

"What?" Steve asked him.

Clint, still smiling at a memory told him a little story. "You know the titanium wall that used to be in the training room that you used to bounce your shield off of since it was too strong to try and penetrate?"

"Yes…" Steve said.

"Well, me and Nat were training one day and she noticed your practice shield still in there. She gave me this look and then went and picked it up. Without spinning it to give it any momentum like you do, she flung it into that wall and it went clear through. That's why it's not there anymore."

Steve simply could not believe it. He had tried and tried to get his shield to break through and here goes Natasha in one try. He couldn't help but laugh to himself. He was impressed. He looked over to her and saw that more of her wounds had healed, the superficial ones at least. For him, it would have taken him a little longer to heal.

Thor listened intently at the story and was not so impressed. "I could hurl Mjölnir at the wall and have it go straight through my friends. Please, why are you so impressed?"

Clint rolled his eyes and said, "Thor, buddy… you're a god. We are not."

He thought on this a moment more before finally accepting the answer. He was still not so accustomed to Earth.

Tony could not get into Clint's story. He was assisting Bruce with patching up Natasha and all he could think about was, _this is all my fault, this is all my fault, this is all my fault. _If only he had not used the crystals. He didn't know what to do. In a sudden burst of anger at himself, he ended up yelling "What am I supposed to do!"

The room got quiet. Everyone tried to give suggestions but Tony knew they wouldn't work. Except for Thor's suggestion, it could definitely work, but it was a crazy plan. They all tried to find ways for it to happen. Should they walk right in and demand it? Should they go undercover? Should everyone go, or just Thor and another person? After nearly an hour of arguing and Tony winning, they reached a solution. They were going to go undercover and break him out, even though they hated his guts. He knew more than them about Chitauri crystals.

Loki could be their only chance.

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_Tadaaa! Sorry for the long wait, I haven't abandoned yall. I finally moved and then had to go to Arkansas for a canoe race. But I'm back! Thank you all for the follows, favs, and reviews! There will be no romance going on, at least not at this point. I like just plain ole action. The only pairing would be Natasha and Clint I think, but I'm not focused at all towards a romance story. Natasha and Tony are just friends, no romance there._

_I would like to know some of your ideas and things you would like to see happen in this story. I think it would be fun to add some of your ideas. Just let me know! Thank you all!_


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